Ys X: Nordics

About Ys X: Nordics

Ys X: Nordics is a single player role playing game with fantasy and anime themes. It was developed by PH3 GmbH and was released on March 13, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Embark on a high seas adventure rich with action and exploration in Ys X: Nordics! Experience the perils of Obelia Gulf through the eyes of Adol Christin and his unexpected ally, the pirate Karja Balta, as they help save the people of the gulf from the mysterious immortal monsters known as the Griegr. Features: Two Heroes, One Story: Bound by unexpected circumstances, the young adventurer Adol and…

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Reviews

76%Audience ScoreBased on 732 reviews

story140 positive mentions

grinding24 negative mentions

Engaging and satisfying combat system with duo mechanics and fluid character switching.
Strong story with great character development, especially the relationship between Adol and Karja.
Enjoyable exploration including ship travel and naval combat, complemented by good soundtrack and voice acting.

Early game is slow-paced with tedious ship travel and excessive dialogue.
Visuals and environment design feel dated and repetitive with low enemy variety.
Some gameplay mechanics and controls can feel clunky or unbalanced, and the difficulty may be too easy for experienced players.

story
421 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33% positive mentions, 62% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions
The story in Ys X: Nordics is generally well-received for its engaging and character-driven narrative, particularly highlighting the dynamic between Adol and Karja with a Norse-inspired setting. While some find it slower-paced and less impactful compared to earlier entries like Ys VIII or IX, it balances personal, heartfelt moments with adventure and mystery, supported by solid writing and voice acting. However, critics note occasional plot conveniences, pacing issues, and less memorable side characters, though the overall story provides a satisfying and enjoyable experience for fans of the series and JRPG storytelling.
- “The story was very well written; it left a lot of mysteries that eventually unraveled.”
- “Gripping story that has some great twists, an immersive world complete with lively characters that make you feel like part of an awesome viking crew.”
- “The story-hook is promising, I already want to find out more.”
- “The storytelling feels incoherent, constantly interrupted by random plot developments that come out of nowhere.”
- “The "big bads" get introduced as unstoppable threats, then get completely nullified with ease, then a plot twist happens with Karja that starts good but turns into a popcorn fart using "the power of friendship", and these previously unstoppable threats get turned into a generic plot device that felt completely crammed in to help explain the final sequences.”
- “I feel that the biggest flaw of this game is that it suffers from too much story. I guess if I wasn't so obsessively completionist I could just skip a bunch of it, but there's nothing I could do about the story bits that interrupt gameplay mid-exploration to throw in bits of story that really don't actually add anything of value.”
gameplay
314 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27% positive mentions, 69% neutral mentions, 4% negative mentions
Ys X introduces a fresh duo-based combat system that offers satisfying, fast-paced action with rewarding guard and counter mechanics, though some find it easier and less challenging than previous entries. While the core gameplay remains engaging and enjoyable with a variety of skill interactions and exploration, features like ship navigation and certain mechanics are criticized as repetitive or underdeveloped. Overall, the gameplay is a solid evolution for the series that balances accessibility and depth, albeit with room for refinement in balance and mechanical polish.
- “Ys x also introduces a whole new combat system: you have solo mode (moves faster but deals less damage) and duo mode (moves slower but deals more damage). They removed the broken flash move and guard for something more interesting—the guard counter and dash counter. These new mechanics are more satisfying to pull off with a more generous timing window. Successfully landing counters rewards you with a revenge gauge that multiplies your damage up to 5 times normal (outside of critical hits).”
- “Once the game lets loose, it becomes just as fast and super satisfying as any Ys game, especially since the core mechanic involves a solo/duo system with the main duo taking the entire battlefield, either one or both. Perfect guards trigger epic flashy moves while raising the revenge counter mechanic, amplifying duo skills damage. The gameplay loop is satisfying, keeping combat fresh with many possibilities.”
- “The duo mechanic truly makes you feel like you are fighting as a team together. The character dynamic between Adol and Karja is fantastic, the exploration at sea feels great, and the overall combat mechanic feels very fresh yet familiar. The game features fast and responsive gameplay; abilities feel good to use, and the many RPG elements are balanced so that grinding is not necessary if your skills as a player are sufficient.”
- “The main deal-breaker is that combat in this game sucks, the camera angle is choppy and all over the place, the dodge mechanic is bad, the skill tree makes no sense, and the mana board is impossible to control.”
- “Gameplay is stale and repetitive in a vast and empty open world.”
- “There are no further depths to be explained about the combat because, while there technically are mechanics to discover, they don't matter: being in a skill animation gives 90% damage resistance, allowing you to facetank every encounter and boss fight with just 1% lifesteal, and skill chains give such a big SP discount that you never run out of SP to cast.”
music
146 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53% positive mentions, 44% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions
The music in the game broadly continues Ys’ tradition of energetic, adventurous soundtracks, with many praising its great, catchy, and heart-pounding tracks that complement combat and exploration well. However, some fans feel the soundtrack is less inspired than previous entries, citing a heavier reliance on repetitive motifs and outsourced compositions that dilute its quality. Overall, while still generally good and enjoyable, the music receives mixed reactions, balancing standout tracks with a perception of a slight decline in consistency and memorability.
- “The music is absolutely phenomenal, staying true to the series' signature style while offering new, memorable tracks that perfectly complement the adventure.”
- “With Ys X, the series continues its tradition of smooth, fluid combat, a colorful cast, and epic, heart-pounding music.”
- “The music, the places, the characters, atmosphere - everything comes together into giving you that adventurous spirit the game is trying to sell you.”
- “The music in the series is definitely getting worse and will continue to get worse if Falcom keeps outsourcing to cheap musicians.”
- “Ultimately the last point is the music which is mid; there are very few OST tracks I remember after finishing the game.”
- “There are some great tracks here and there, but half the soundtrack is taken up by mediocre music that gets really grating after a while of listening to it in-game.”
graphics
113 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27% positive mentions, 68% neutral mentions, 5% negative mentions
The graphics in this game represent an incremental improvement over previous Ys titles, offering colorful art styles and expressive character animations but still falling short of modern AAA standards. While some praise the fluid combat animations and consistency across platforms, many note outdated environmental textures, limited variety in area design, and a general lack of polish compared to contemporary RPGs. Overall, the visuals are serviceable and stylistically fitting for the series but feel dated for a 2024 release.
- “The graphics are a good improvement, particularly the lighting, models, and animations.”
- “Graphics are super scalable; looks great at 60fps on Steam Deck, but can crank it up to 11 to look stunning on a high-end PC.”
- “It is fantastically animated and, as usual in all Falcom games, characters are actually quite expressive for this art style. They convey lots of different expressions and emotions via their very skilled animation on the characters’ faces, eyes, mouths, and bodies, even with the simpler graphics compared to other, bigger AAA productions.”
- “The graphics are actually embarrassing for a full-priced product released in 2024 and almost every area is practically identical in architecture and thematic design.”
- “First the graphic, it can be for most ys player fine but for a game in 2024 the graphic is less than mid.”
- “Compared to other sixty dollar games, the graphics are terrible.”
grinding
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3% positive mentions, 14% neutral mentions, 83% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is largely optional and not required for progression, with combat and exploration paced well enough to avoid feeling repetitive or tedious for most players. However, some aspects like early naval combat, ship upgrades, and certain farming or upgrade systems can become repetitive and feel like a slog until improvements are made mid-to-late game. Overall, grinding is manageable and often enjoyable if you engage with side content, but some players find specific mechanics and prolonged sequences tedious.
- “As I did basically everything, I always had the materials for upgrades and whatnot, no farming needed!”
- “The new boat mechanic was cool at first but became tedious towards the end because of how repetitive it was.”
- “Combat is taking a page out of the mechanics first popularized with Assassin's Creed III and IV, but strips them of all nuance, which leads to all naval battles being way too easy to be interesting and at worst just very tedious to go through.”
- “One of the lame things is that the gem & depth system is tedious to keep up with, and at the end of the day you can sort of skip past it by doing the old-school 'buy the best weapons and armor you can and fully upgrade them' that the series has had forever.”
emotional
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
94% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
Players express strong emotional investment in Ys X: Nordics, praising its heartfelt story, compelling character bonds, and impactful dialogue, especially highlighting the relationship between Adol and key companions. While some find the story's start slow or predictable, many appreciate its emotional depth and satisfying payoffs, making it a recommended experience for both new and veteran fans seeking a fast-paced RPG with meaningful narrative moments.
- “I was so emotionally invested in the characters because the Adol and Karja pair hit so close to home.”
- “It is Ys entries like this that make me wish sometimes that Adol wasn't a 'silent' protagonist, as I tend to get really emotionally invested in some of the characters that Adol meets throughout his adventures. Ys X: Nordics is a new favourite of mine and I wholeheartedly recommend this to series newcomers and veterans alike.”
- “Her relationship with Adol, and the way their sworn-brother bond is reflected both in the story and in the gameplay, gave the adventure an emotional core that stayed with me long after it ended.”
optimization
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 33% neutral mentions, 17% negative mentions
The game is exceptionally well optimized, delivering smooth performance even on older PCs and offering extensive configuration options. The PC port benefits from careful programming, maintaining stable frame rates and high visual quality without major compromises. Overall, optimization is praised as elite and highly efficient.
- “Durante did an absolutely fantastic job with optimization as well as making sure FPS did not accelerate the game in unintended ways like previous ports had issues with.”
- “The programmers who ported this to PC have put a lot into optimization, and for such a niche series, it’s appreciated.”
- “The series is infamously low budget and they seemingly did not make drastic changes between the Switch version and others, meaning it's capped by the Nintendo Switch's performance.”
- “As far as performance numbers, on my Ryzen 7 5700X and RTX 3060 Ti, this game can be enjoyed at pretty good frame rates at 1440p, 2x MSAA with SGSSAA, and mostly ultra settings with a couple settings toned down (shadow resolution and filtering) if you want, but not totally needed.”
- “As usual, the performance of the PC version for this game is absolutely fantastic, being a port from PH3, and we have an extremely well optimized game, packed with settings.”
character development
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
27% positive mentions, 46% neutral mentions, 27% negative mentions
Character development in the game is generally solid, with some characters like Karja showing notable growth and well-written arcs. While the story offers depth and plenty of voice acting, certain character conflicts feel unresolved or rushed. Character designs remain strong but are sometimes considered less impressive compared to previous entries, with some voices notably mispronouncing key names.
- “Karja undergoes some remarkable character development from bland, stereotypical "me sea raider!"”
- “But don’t get me wrong, there’s so much voice acting, story depth, and character development, you eventually get over it.”
- “Because of that she had good character development and a well written story.”
- “There were some interesting potential with certain character conflicts, but this leads to my main criticism: they don't really go anywhere, or if they do, the developments resolve way too quickly, especially the big character developments later in the main story.”
- “Karja undergoes some remarkable character development from a bland, stereotypical "me sea raider" type, but overall the character progression feels limited.”
- “Speaking of characters, most of the character designs in this game were pretty bland compared to the last two Ys games and the recent Trails games.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The humor in the game is well-balanced, blending lighthearted jokes with serious moments and featuring witty, sometimes awkward dialogue that adds charm and character chemistry. Players find the comedic elements entertaining, though some note humor is mixed with moments of repetitive gameplay that can lessen impact. Overall, the humor contributes to an enjoyable and fun experience without detracting from gameplay.
- “It's kind of hilarious to hear the characters make comments on how we're 'zooming along' with the mana sail speed boost early in the game because it doesn't get very fast till half-way through the game.”
- “The Ys series is great at mixing funny lighthearted jokes with serious moments without hurting either part.”
- “From its easy-to-pick-up and exciting action gameplay to its sometimes awkward and humorous dialogue, it's just simply fun to play.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71% positive mentions, -14% neutral mentions, 43% negative mentions
The game is generally stable with smooth performance and no crashes, running well even on varied hardware like the Steam Deck OLED and through Proton on Linux. However, occasional glitches occur, such as infinite loading during area transitions and freezing when accessing menus, which can hinder gameplay and saving. These issues are hoped to be addressed in future updates.
- “From a technical perspective, this port is basically flawless, runs great, with no framerate dips, and I experienced no crashes.”
- “The PC version runs great - even through Proton (which is how I'm playing it, in Debian).”
- “Other than that, the game runs great if you set up your GPU correctly.”
- “Sometimes the game will endlessly load when it transitions to a new area (e.g., I fast traveled and it took so long to load that I seriously fell asleep during the loading and woke up 2 hours later to it still loading).”
- “Sometimes pausing or going to the in-game menu will freeze the game, which really sucks when you have to access menus to save.”
- “There are a few glitches that I hope get fixed as soon as possible.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Replayability is somewhat limited due to having only two playable characters, but the game’s compelling story and cast provide a solid experience. Users suggest that adding more playable characters and costume options would enhance replay value.
- “More playable characters would be cool and surely more costumes to choose from.”
- “Replay value.”
- “The game features a good cast of characters with a compelling story, and while only two characters are playable, it still offers a unique experience worth replaying.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for seamlessly blending music, locations, and characters to evoke a strong adventurous spirit. It successfully captures the engaging vibe that fans appreciated in previous entries, particularly in storytelling and overall ambiance.
- “The music, the places, the characters, atmosphere - everything comes together into giving you that adventurous spirit the game is trying to sell you.”
- “At the same time, after IX's different vibe, it returns to what many fans enjoyed about Ys VIII in several aspects, mainly when it comes to storytelling and atmosphere.”